Calls For Legrope Awareness After Another Serious Injury At Byron
Ten years after Swellnet's Editor copped a loose longboard in the ribs the issue is reaching the upper echelons of Aussie media. This article was posted by the ABC Sunshine Coast today.
A prominent member of the Australian surfing community is reluctantly calling for legropes to be mandatory in certain conditions. Phil Jarratt has made the call after intense crowding on the Queensland points created by Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle.
It also comes a week after a former professional surfer suffered life-threatening injuries at Byron Bay when he was hit by a rogue board. Mathew Cassidy was surfing with friends at Wategos Beach when he was hit by the fin of a loose longboard.
Phil Jarratt is a billboard for commonsense
Mr Jarratt said, while surfing without a legrope provided a sense of freedom, it was a risk surfers could no longer afford to take given the popularity of some surf breaks, including on the Sunshine Coast where he is based.
"There comes a time when you have just got to face the realities of modern living and modern surfing — it's a crowded world," Mr Jarratt said. "You can't afford the luxury of indulging your little retro fantasy, and being out there the way you were when you were younger, when you're really putting people at risk."
While he was reluctant to call for compulsory measures, he said they were warranted in some situations.
"I don't like to see anything mandated in surfing because the reason most of us surf is for the freedom," Mr Jarratt said. "We really have to start looking at perhaps making mandatory the wearing of leg ropes in certain circumstances — maybe at certain times of the year when the swell is a little bit bigger and the waves are more powerful."
Surfing Australia said it encouraged any device that assisted in the safety of people in the water.
Education over mandates
A spokesperson from the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service Emergency Department said injuries were common from surfboards, ranging from minor fin cuts to significant facial and dental fractures or surgery.
A Sunshine Coast life guard supervisor said while crews often dealt with injuries from surfboard fins, they did not support a legrope mandate. Surf Life Saving Queensland's Trent Robinson said surf life savers recommended the safety feature to be worn at all times.
"It's just courtesy and the smart thing to do is to definitely have one of those leash ropes, especially if you're anywhere near those red and yellow flags."
Mr Robinson said it was not uncommon for injuries to occur when legropes broke, and advised surfers to check for wear and tear before entering the water.
"You would feel terrible as a surfer if you lose your board and it takes out some young kid and actually causes a bit of damage — especially to the head," he said.
In the meantime, Mr Jarratt hoped education campaigns would encourage more people to wear leg ropes in the surf.
He wanted people to think about how they would feel if their "insistence on this retro fantasy resulted in a serious injury" to somebody else.
// OLIVIA MASON & EMMA CILLIKENS
© Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Comments
It's funny how it's not that common to see high level surfers on shortboards without a legrope yet some muppets on 10 foot logs with way less skill seem to think it's okay not to wear one at a super crowded point break where a loose board could travel hundreds of yards down the line cleaning up anyone in it's path......weird.
Might remove the handbrake from my car to feel the freedom of rolling......cheers
There's literally no practical advantage to going leashless on a shortboard. There is on a log because it can trip you up and put the people in front of you at risk.
I ride all kinds of boards and have surfed in lineups full of leashless longboarders for almost 15 years and have never had a problem or seen anyone get hit by a loose board.
If you can't spot a 10ft log bouncing around in the whitewash and either paddle around it or dive underwater you shouldn't be out there in the first place.
Kaipo I normally don't call people out but surfing without a LEGROPE, not the yank leash, is bullshit- good for crowd control (take out the opposition) but crazy dangerous to others. I don't get Byron you can get away with anything and their is no opposition its being surfed to death. If a log with no one on it came past me I would commandeer it and have it out in the car park.
Surfing is dangerous, all of the collisions I've ever seen happen within a metre or two of the surfer on the wave and the legrope was irrelevant.
All legrope mandates will do is eradicate proper longboarding.
This whole argument is akin to saying nobody should ride a hard fibreglass board with a pointy nose and sharp fins because they can and do hurt people.
Yep - it would be a real shame if this guy couldn't 'Do his thang' with a legrope hindering his proper longboarding.....hang on - is that a legrope I spy?
Gross. That wasn't even proper longboarding, he's riding a 3 finned banana board like an oversized shortboard. This comment just confirms how clueless you guys are about longboarding.
You're funny.
kaipoo, you are a dickhead
I'm sorry if that was you in the video but that was honestly some of the worst longboarding I've ever seen.
really short sighted view - the crossover off perfect waves for logs & kids is pretty much 100% - yes any competent surfer can see a log washing through but kids learning how to surf in kiddy waves and really thats what they are, do not have that awareness at all.
It would only trip you up if you're a kook, which is why its mainly the kooks who don't wear them.
If you haven't seen a loose longboard in the line up you not surfing the crowded longboard spots or you lack situational awareness.
Righto mate. I guess all the best longboarders are kooks then.
Oath
Fair call I hear what you're saying but the principal applies to all surf craft I guess. Also keep in mind that a lot of surfboards, logs included are the colour white and that isn't the easiest to spot in whitewash especially to the uninitiated....
I guess if you have a leash on a 10 foot board that becomes a potential 20 foot missile once extended however without a leash that distance becomes indefinite.
are you the mong that said that to stunet about 10 years ago?
Negative mate.....I'm the "mong" who is glad I don't have to deal with log riders with no legropes at my local. Enjoy
my apologies, i replied to the wrong person
All good.....have a good one
I would advise any longboarder who has personal assets to wear a legrope. Duty of Care, reasonable forseeability, the tort of negligence, hit someone and you can lose your house.
But what if a large % of the target audience doesn't have a house, or many personal assets?
Shoot em'.
While I agree with the sentiment your solution causes its own problems
I'm really surprised clubbies don't enforce legropes for paddleboards considering their duty of care and who would be paying in an injury compensation case? The club or the person using the club equipment? So many times i have been almost taken out by clubbies on paddleboards and surfboats because the user has no f'ing idea how to catch a wave on one. Same for low skilled surfers, wear a leash.
the second worst surf injury i've seen was a clubby on Nobby's reef riding full into my other 16yo bodyboarder friend, duckdiving on a friendly 4ft day. He had a hole in the calf for a few weeks, Warren the professional checked it out and we joked it off.
Gotta love Wazza the real lifeguard
Love to see all the guys rowing a surfboat wearing a leggie. Towed to shore under water as a group.
Adam 12 - what would the Cost be to get Legal Precedings underway for a Claim ?
Udo, expensive, in the thousands, would vary depending on the amount claimed. However, a good case and a No win No fee lawyer and it would only cost if you lost. Legal Aid won't do negligence but would help finding representation for someone injured who doesn't have the ability financially to launch action.
The legal fees will swallow majority of the payout in most cases, reasonable best case scenario is getting your hospital bills paid
When you win a torts case often times the defendant will pay costs
only party-party costs, total costs usually much higher
"no win ,no fee would only cost you if you lost" , think you need to rethink that one
Unless of course you could identify the owner of the board and choose a law firm that has a no win no charge policy, it would be a percentage of the payout
100% agree. should be preceded by having the absolute fuck kicked out of them on the beach, then sued
They could sue you for the bashing
Spot on Udo - a longboard has the potential to cause significant damage / a shortboard sans a leggie is also dangerous ....regardless of the culpable surfer's ability. Take someone's eye out in a crowd up whilst surfing "free n easy" and you leave yourself open to legal; action. If they don't have a house etc. then it may be possible to garnish a % of their future income for a decade or two.
Has the law been tested by this yet...cant be far off
It's stupid to try feel free in a crowded lineup anyway. Just accept the situation and wear a leggie fr godsake.
Not sure how to embed on link on here .
Bit of some relevant legal musing ......
https://stacklaw.com.au/news/personal-injury/causing-an-avoidable-surfbo...
Interesting that if you get hit by a leggie-less board while surfing your chances of success in a suit are less than a swimmer's because you are partaking in potentially dangerous pastime - surfing. i.e when I paddle out at the Pass I know there will be clueless muppets out there who let their longboards careen through the line up therefore I accept that risk by surfing there.
Contributum volenti. It would be akin to getting your anoose plowed in the Congo and trying to sue when the persistent dry cough arrives.
Longboards are big, glassed heavy and travel with real momentum - with a rider or not...
Potentially deadly
Ain't nothing cool about a fractured skull either
Chicks dig scars moight
"one of those leash ropes..." :-)
Wot we need is for common sense to be mandated. Only a mandate will work.
I just feel sorry for people who decide to paddle out at breaks like the pass on a small day.
Why would you feel sorry for them?
Are they not entitled to fun?
I think there's a bit too much entitlement it seems
Oh and come on FT, it's how us Victorians cope with the grey skies and cold grey water....by clinging on to how we aren't swamped by kooks down here.
Stok heads up I've seen lots of NSW plates down here recently, we could be next to be Byroned. Got a vinyl record collection? August will be the test of character with the cold though.
.
Recently I've talked with Byron crew out there and I really like them. I'm scared that the SC becomes the 'next Byron' though. It's damn cold at times, and as you all know, Victoria Never Barrels.
VJ,
S.C has been over run by industry yes men for years.
Or when they decided to turn Lorne into a suburb of Melbourne..
I'd say the enemy maybe within ?
That is true; the future of the place seems to be an extension of Geelong, as housing creeps towards Torquay and Barwon Heads. Lorne has become a Portsea.
What I mean though is the stories we've been hearing from Byron through FR and media - the homelessness, social pressures, people priced out of town, living in dunes etc etc
I prefer the stylish longboard crew to the clean cut industry thruster yes men - good and bad people in all groups though. The link in this thread by the photog Spaz of the girl on the longboard, check out that insta, the pics are aesthetically beautiful, THAT is what surfing is about, those timeless moments. They are doing that really well.
More and more of the Byron Crew are moving to the Tweed. Better waves and more affordable. Tweed also has a shortage of Healers and Artisans, so work is plentiful for the potentially leash-less.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/cape-woolamai-victorias-surprise-next...
No leg rope on a longboard has become a fashion thing.
Goes back to the rebirth of logging driven by Joel Tudor who also has presided over the downfall of HP long boarding.
I f you really want to piss a hipster off spray them in the face with your HP whilst wearing a leggy its like holy water on a Vampire.
Watch the last longboard world titles held in China or the Oz titles in Port M....most wearing leg ropes.
Most dangerous thing I am seeing are a possy of foil riders dressing in Kevlar armour and going out in a pack taking off next to crew wearing boardshorts.....most are foil kooks.....someone will die out there soon.
"If you really want to piss a hipster off spray them in the face with your HP whilst wearing a leggy its like holy water on a Vampire."
I can picture the reeeeeeeee
2 negatives with Vic, the weather/cold & Daniel Andrews!!
Is Byroned in the dictionary? It should be!
Thats GOLD Stok !
SW WA is in the process of being Byroned as we speak. Place is fucked.
Yes Byronization is a real thing.
I’m a Victorian in NNSW and I always found way more kooks down there, sorry.
Hmmm fun....you sure thats what you would call is Zen?
You sound like a very bitter wave starved victorian Stok.
Not denying it
I feel that collectively the surfing public should also point their fingers at individuals who make a living from surfing who get around without a legrope. There's a whole range of people who fit into this category - basically any longboarder that Nathan Oldfield photographs and the hundreds of "surf lifestylist influencers" in the Northern Rivers - for whom the aesthetics of a leash wouldn't fit into their brand. These are also the kinds of people that many new surfers are trying to emulate when they first get into the water, and they have tens if not hundreds of thousands of followers on socials. If they were just regular surfers, then so be it. But given their material wealth in part, if not mostly, comes from being photographed on a surfboard, the least they could do is put a leash on while they do it.
Say you’re a pretty good longboarder and don’t wear a leash, what is that about?
Are those invisible judges on the shore scoring you down because your cross step was impeded by your leggie?
Do you have such supersonic proprioception you’re able to feel the difference in drag?
…….main thing to note, YOU ARE NOT THAT SKILLED - if there is anymore than you and sealife out, you have to wear a leggie (same goes for those shortboard gronks who do this when it’s small)
Its all about the look. We surfers like to think we are so free but the reality is we are sheep. I spent the 90's getting around on a toothpick sized board cos that's what everyone did at the time.
I miss the 90's when every man and his dog was riding toothpicks because anyone that wasn't super fit and average skill couldn't get many waves or ride them.
I alway's thought longboarder and skilled were mutually exclusive - sorry couldn't resist.
no leggie, no play.
to many times have we all seen disasters unfolding in slow motion.. only a matter of time before we have more serious injuries
Defies logic. Leggies enhance surfing cos you can push the envelope further or bailout dodgy sections even pull into a close out barrel and pop out the back. It’s a massive pain in the arse when a broken leggy means a big swim and risk of damaging others and your board let alone having to paddle out from ground zero time and again. Fkn first world selfishness which is gunna lead to mandates for surfing to protect us from idiots
We are talking about longboarders so pushing the envelope is not an issue.
Floating legal offices!
At crowded surf breaks not too far away.
No win no fee!
Surprised surfing legal eagles haven’t started the service already.
Last Saturday at Cooly
Could have generated many claims!
Lets hear from some of the no legrope crew.
C'mon boys and girls tell us why you shouldn't have to wear a leggy.? Love to hear from you.
I sport a very elegant manbun and therefor have no choice but to mal it leashless?
How about the hydrofoils.
From those just on a hydrofoil to those with a kite too.
I dont get why people think its ok to head out without a leggie when others are around.
My daughter and I were at the alley creek swimming when someone lost their hydrofoil and planed towards us. The guy told me we should not be in here along with the 50 or so other people swimming.
As Phil says its mostly due to an overindulging fantasy of themselves and fuck everyone else.
I was pushing my son into a couple of small ones at the Alley & a leashless board came towards us with old mate chasing it.
He retrieved it close to a lot of people. I had a quiet word & told him that if his board hit me or my son I would punch him in the face. He didn’t like that so I explained it using slightly stronger language… worked as he didn’t come back.
Being 6’5 & 105kg I don’t like to throw my weight around but the message needs to be given, wear a leg rope or buggar off.
The alley needs an enforcer. Please punch those useless surf school coaches that bring out 20+ beginners into the line up absolutely ruining any fun the kids have out there time and time again.
You could go learn somewhere else?
good work.
Of course the clubbies are against it, they're some of the worst offenders.
I do believe Keala Kennely provided us with the solution during the last Eddie Aikau Invitational.
Old school longboarders don't want to wear a leggy around their ankle as it gets in the way of the board-walking and cross-stepping, so whattabout a harness on their back which keeps the leggy away from their fancyfree footwork?
How about a neck leash?
Solid laugh out of that one
Hahahaha gold!
Haha classic!!
You beat me to it.
Saw a foil surfer at Bendalong on the back of the swell with a chest leash. His reduced drag was actually legit, riding the swells alll the way into the beach, then annoying some stingrays when he's getting shallow!
Wholy fuck , that set up seemed like sketchiest set up ever
That girl is wild !
That's why some dedicated longboarders wear their leggies strapped just below the knee, seems to work.
It's huge in marketing up here, from big roadside billboards to beers and packets of açai balls.
Selling the Byron scene no matter what the real world consequences.
As someone who started surfing before leg ropes were invented, you can stuff that leggie-free freedom rubbish where the sun don't shine. The leggie is up there with the thruster for surfing's best development. No leggie when I was a kid meant many swims to the beach or scrambling over rocks to retrieve what was left of your board. Oh and we didn't have quivers back then, just 1 board. I bet the leggie-free crew wouldn't be surfing now if they had been forced to learn to surf without a leggie. Entitled, self-centred bunch trying to recreate something that never way. There never was anything cool about not having a leggie, it just meant you were destined to pay your dues. And you considered others in the line up, no throwing away the board when the sets came or trying stupid impossible moves in front of someone paddling out.
Those channel bottoms you left in mex are all time mike. I know two people that are very appreciative of them.
Damn Straight!
But it's ridiculous they're making another nsw law.
I'd say 'only softboards allowed in Byron Bay'
The freedom stuff seems to be strongest at sandy points - don't see any freedom lovers at breaks with rocky shorelines.
Totally agree Michael P! When leggies first came in and were scarce as hen's teeth I made my own with a leather dog collar and a piece of venetian blind cord tied on through a hole in the fin. Never looked back after that.
Agree except that dates both of us and I hate getting old.
Yes… please let’s hear from the leggyless fukwits
can we stitch the thread into Instagram?
I paddled hard and quickly to grab a large stray mal at the pass earlier this week. Having spotted the owner swimming to me I did the only sensible thing I could - straightened it up, made sure the coast was clear and sent it gliding on its way to shore.
Pissed owner went WTF mate and I just said - you want a natural feeling….try a swim.
Hahaha too good
If quality legropes were available for surf boards at crowded beaches, a reasonable person would wear a legrope.... Its the unreasonable people many are concerned about causing harm, pain and suffering.
Define what is reasonable and if surfing at the location was a
"dangerous recreational activity means a recreational activity that involves a significant risk of physical harm."
https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2002-...
They should be made to visit an acquired brain injury ward to see that there selfish, arrogant behaviour can have life long consequences for someone else.
With everyone getting in the water at the sight of a ripple down here in Vicco, due to 18 months where surf has been rare, the no leg rope crew seem to have proliferated.
I don't often hate, however these selfish pricks should be banned.
Oh and I don't care what your skill level is, the ocean no matter how big or small the swell is unpredictable.
Clubbies crowd & race flat out into the surf with loose boards bangin' on competitor's heads!
Nippers race without Leggies in order not to face plant so Paddleboards are fitted with straps.
That be why the Clubbie is not too keen on mandates...end of the Iron Man institution
Nippers often log jam the Flags...so..what to do about it?
Surf Life Saving Club - {Board safety progression}
Note clubs are shifting Club Boards to BYO (Shifts the liability for lost boards)
Nipper Boards & how to use them...(All 1st timers / Newbies ride Softies)
Many are fitted with hand straps.
U7/8s > Boogie Boards
U9/10s > Foam Boards
U11/12/13 > Stubbie Fibreglass
U14-Open > Mal Fibreglass
By joining the Club > Parents are covered against accidents on the beach!
Pause!
Consider if unleashed Surfers are social clubbies...therefore immune from "Beach accidents"
In which case...all safety clauses evolve around Club's equipment (Board) damage.
Reason being the boards are lost from low controlled height...mostly bobbled up by waves!
A nipper (member) must report any club board damage by letting go of board in the surf!
(Parents/or may be asked to contribute to club board repairs as a result!)
Club is not responsible for damage to private boards.
A nipper relinquishes their right to a club board if they sit / kneel or ride standing up! (Bellyboard Only)
Club can't store yer private boards...not our problem!
Seems that Clubs will cover members for accidents until accident is from private boards.
There is no mention of insurance extending to other SLSA Club's events or beaches!
Important! As most clubs are State funded & run...so NSW club venturing to Qld Aussies?
tbb was told of Gromz emerging from Shipping Containers / Removal Vans...just like Reffos!
Mostly because dodgy Gear transit & Accom...etc!
Ok! We're getting there...just hold tight...on the last leg home...
So how could SLSA cover immunity for a Lord Byron Grom- Hodad Long Board Club? Huh!
Surfing > "Board Riding" is now a certified Lifesaving Sport to attract & keep new members.
Yes! For sure it's working...
Clubs now lure in Surfers & have many surfboards (Mals)...free to ride.
Qld Squad is huge (200 Clubbie surfers) + NSW (96 Clubbie surfers)
Aussies run 8 day Boardriding Comp @ Coolum / Miami - Kurrawa
https://sls.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Circular-48-21-22-Aussies-...
2022 NSW...
6/7 May 2023 SLS NSW Board riding Championships North Avoca
https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/event/2023-board-riding-championships/
Surf Clubs field Gromz to Masters (Long Board) Competitors
So there ya go! Clubbie Long Board crews in training for Aussies
https://sls.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Circular-48-21-22-Aussies-...
Q: Do Clubbie Short Boardriders wear Leggies in (OZ surfing/WSL Comp) ...Yes!
Q: Do Clubbie Mal Boardriders wear Leggies in (Oz surfing/WSL Comp)...Yes
Choose...
(A) Club's insurance don't extend to other Beaches!
(B) They won't swim for their board in a comp!
Crew can decide if Local Longboard Clubbies are in training with immunity.
tbb is only sure that each club are ramping Short & Long Board Members
80% annual increase in Grom Boardriderz + 30% annual increase in Competitors
Noting the aim is to bridge gaps between boardriders & Clubbies.
Absolute Gold, Lost.
Best laugh I have had in ages!
Cheers
Surfing Carties many moons ago and the Mooloolaba budgie smugglers in a paddle boat thought they’d catch a wide one. It jacked, they came unstuck and it crashed through the line up and ended up on the rock training wall. Smashed to bits. Class act by idiots.
As I said in other thread, surfing the Pass and complaining about getting injured is like going to a brothel and not using protection then complaining about catching an STI.
The pass must be one of the most dangerous surf breaks in this country and no one is forcing you to surf there.
If you insist on surfing there and have a problem with it then actively call people out or smash the odd fin out when someone looses a leashless board.
Or you can always just follow the quintessential Byron shire behavioural pattern of endlessly whinging about first world problems on social media and never doing anything about them.
You don't need a Pass or Noosa point to get clobbered. One of my local breaks is 45kms long and the morning I copped a board nose to the eye there were three out, I was the fourth. 95kg fella on his first surf there ploughed through a collapsed section and emerged to spear my right eye, explode my eye socket, depress fracture my cheekbone and do the same to my sinus. Three ops later my eyesight is barely there. Bit tough if your work revolves around reading, let alone picking distance to an incoming set or enduring noonday sun when your pupil is frozen wide open, fully dilated. Lawyer told me after it happened if the guy had household insurance and kept his board at home I could claim, even if it was his parents' house. He didn't, I couldn't and now I just get by. Sad way to end 55 years of surfing. Re leggies - those without them are, as John Cooper Clarke once said, "Lost in a fools orbit, bound for a victim's future."
That's so heavy Spiggy. Do you have sight in the other eye?
Yes. But now not stereoscopic so judging distance and depth of field is ruined. Plus cataract is greatly advanced by trauma (who knew?) so waiting on surgery No 4. Brain had adapted well to different visual input. Over the years, especially in the 80s, I saw a complete disregard for others' safety. Interestingly, my locals, which have produced at least two top five pros, see the crowd spread out as size increases. When it's 3ft it's crowded but last week when it was 10ft there was 50m between surfers. We've had enough accidents for older crew to pull grommets into line on water safety. Education is the key, whether it's leggies, etiquette or ocean skills. Too many new to surfing buy the "Just Do It" crap and the results are entirely predictable.
Oh man, so sorry to hear Spiggy, hopefully you'll be able to get back into the water in some way. Fingers crossed for ya.
It was three years ago, December 30, 2019. I was back in the water after two or three months but the ability to judge distance is a real drawback. Plus I lost six kilos in a week in hospital and all my strength for the next month. I tend to hang off the pack and avoid busy lefts as I can't see well back up the line. Rights are easier but the killer is the noonday sun. In five decades in the water I have a few scars from fin chops, a dislocation, more minor fin stabs and headbutts on banks but when your eyeball tears off 50mm of board nose (without exploding) its shows just how miraculous the human body is. Worth protecting, especially from preventable injuries.
Geez that it rubbish sorry spiggy did the older crew have a word with 95kg beer keg about the altercation?
Getting back to the manly days of the 80s, need a registered board!
If i'm not mistaken, he copped it the day before the swell, when it was peaky 2ft?
The Pass looked best ever on the first swell day (on cam), 100 d1cks out getting the wave of a life after the best ever Greenmount with 500 of their best mates.
I reckon softboards only at Byron. Anyone else, goes somewhere else
Full swell paddle out the rock, your leash your board get caught by the pigs
Ban leashes and clear the line up of all the wankers that would have been to scared to start surfing before the invention of the leash
We have a winner for dumbest comment in 2023
Long board kook,get over yourself!
Always had more issues with adult learners ditching their boards (legropes attached) than competent longboarders losing their leashless boards.
Same.
100 percent
I agree, though I think the problem is competent longboarders who use their competent longboarding skills as their personal brand to sell sunscreen, bikinis, and t shirts inevitably attract emulators. I remember surfing a point on the mid north coast as the Northern Rivers crew passed through on the way to the comps at Port Macquarie. A handful of the dozen were very competent, their partners and hangers on could hold trim and not much else. All of them without legropes. The newbies amongst them had the confidence that riding a 9'6" on 2 foot peelers while rocking a hot tan gives all of us, but if anything rocked their boat - a bigger set, having to weave through the crowd, a crumbling section - they were useless. I kept a wide berth.
Mainly agree, but no one is that good that they can be in 100% control of their board 100% of the time.
I haven't been hit by too many stray boards, but some kook without a leggie at the Island (yes, in Island Bay, Wgtn, perhaps per your name-sake) who lost his board meant I had only one option when heading straight for the dreaded 'suck-up rock' there - straight into it! No dings on me - pure luck - but board was a near write off, all fins busted off and glass cracked all over from the flexing, let alone the massive hole in the side of it. Long paddle back, eh...
While there is no doubt that a legrope can stop a board flying out of control into someone's face, I tend to agree with Simon Maltby who was quoted in The Guardian.
“A lot of incidents in the surf are caused by people who do wear leg ropes. They go out with a sense of false security because they have it on. You take off on waves that are far out of their capabilities, because they know they won’t lose their board.” 9 ft leggie on a 9ft board still gives you a pretty big radius to hit someone. A legrope should be treated like an airbag in car, a back up in an emergency not something you use everytime you stop. If it's a crowded break you've gotta put common sense first, look out for others and think twice before laying down that extra turn, late take off etc. A leggie isn't a magic "no injury" wand in crowded lineup.
“ A leggie isn't a magic "no injury" wand in crowded lineup.”
No, but it’s an important element of a broader conversation around safety and courtesy in the surf.
“A lot of incidents in the surf are caused by people who do wear leg ropes".
Erm, doesn't that go without saying? If everyone in the lineup wears a legrope, then yes.... Any incident that occurs in the lineup can be attributed to a legrope-wearing enthusiast.
That is a managable risk.
We don't ban cars becuase people die in them.
We target the crazies who massively speed and do not wear seat belts and drink drive.
No leg rope is like driving on the road with a high range speeder high on meth coming towards
you on a un-divided road.
You mean this Simon Maltby?
https://www.inbyronbaytoday.com/reviews/services/ding_repairs.html
A guy who repairs dings in Byron Bay....yep, I'd be saying the same thing if I was him.
*edit = I just re-read. He's not advocating for no legropes at all... I agree with some of his comments .
Having started surfing in 1963 I remember taking several years to get competent at the sport. Many in that era simply gave up as after many swims to retrieve a lost (and possibly damaged) board surfing lost its allure. And almost no one had more than one board, so fixing dings meant no surfing until the board was repaired. Leg ropes have certainly aided novice surfers to gain competency much more quickly and increase crowding disproportionately. In my mid seventies now I would never surf without a leg rope for my own safety as much as anyone else's. I left Byron 20 years ago due to the worsening crowds and it's easy to see on the various surfcams how intense the lineup has become. I'd love to see mandated legrope wearing laws enforced as a public safety issue and damn the pooncy entitled selfish pricks who refuse to consider others in the surf.
Verbally abuse anyone surfing without a leg rope.. then wax their windscreen.
It's a vexed issue and I'm 100% of the school of thought that in any type of Point surf - especially crowded surf- put a frigging leggy on.
Having said that, accidents happen.
The girl who almost killed Matt reckons her leggy snapped and I'd be inclined to disbelieve her except I've snapped 4 leggys in the past month, mostly in small Point surf.
No idea how or why- just ping and next minute your board is careering towards the beach/rocks.
Surfing 1-2ft babyfood this morning on a foamy with the wife and son and this log-rider drops in on me on a fun little left peeler, no harm no foul, plenty of room.
I said, right behind you, just to let him know I was already on it.
Guy cuts back aggressively and takes me out- luckily with just enough time to eject and let the foamy take the impact.
He was wearing a leggy, which meant not much at all in terms of the collision.
Helluva lot of dickheads starring in their own personal movies around here who just don't see anyone else out there.
freeride, have your 4 snapped leggys in the last month all snapped at the same point on the legrope?
no.
2 snapped at random places on the cord.
2 snapped where the moulded plastic joins the ankle strap.
“Helluva lot of dickheads starring in their own personal movies around here”
Reckon that concept will prove to be a significant one in the greater scheme of things.
I've snapped 1 Leg Rope in 45 Years.
Someone you know is putting a cut in the cord with a fin blade.........!!!!!
Then after a couple of waves or even one, it just snaps,
Is that an average of 22.5 years of use for each leggie?
I'm impressed.
I replace them based on age and usage. And have 3 sizes.
Not worth being out on a 8 foot, best day of the year and a cord brakes.
Becuase you still have to replace no matter what - so nothing to be saved.
Selfish!
That's all it is.
Also no regard for others safety in a crowded line-up.
I love not wearing a leggy when all by myself but otherwise, leggy up.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/feb/19/selfishly-hell-bent-on-loo...
Even mainstream media is onto it. Hopefully traction gained.
TBB opening up a can of wrigglers re the massive irony and contradiction of our peak surf safety ngo.
He sure did. Those things are weapons as the white water mows them on in.
Never ceases to amaze me how worked up some people get in 1-2 ft surf , threats and abuse over a knee to shoulder high wave , plus dangerous manoeuvres in front of people with nil regard for anyone else . Look at me look at me look at me look at me I nearly did an air reverse, nearly !
It's usually worse when it's 3ft and under isn't it. When it gets a bit bigger the more experienced regular crew are usually the only ones out. It takes a lot of motivation for me to go out these days when it's 2ft on a sunny Weekend, so many wave hungry annoying surfers in the lineup trying hard to show how good they are in front of their friends. Add in one of their mates with a GoPro and it goes up another level.
Non Leg Rope Wearers need to be tretaed as following:-
A Life for a Eye.
A Eye for a Tooth.
Problem will then go away real quck.
I'll guarantee anyone not wearing a leg rope is a Sociopath in their private life.
These people have been proven to have absolutly ZERO concern or empathy for any anyone except themselves.
They need to be weeded out and exterminated.
I'm seeing this lack of empathy everywhere. Maybe my eyes are now opened to it.
That is why the innocent road users continue to be massacred on the roads by tiny hand full of sociopaths.
We the public slap their wrist with a Lettuce Leaf.
Time for a new approach.
After 40+ years been a gun owner (target shooter AND NOT HUNTING).
I have never seen seen accident in shooting. Yey have seen horror from surfing and surfboard injuries.
The hospitals as the DOctor says has a large record of injuries. But probably zero from gun shots (not crime related).
Yet to renew my SHooters licence i had to sit through HOURS of online training (and pay a lot of money).
Then had to pass a multiple question test in EACH 9 MODULES.
Then had to sit for a larger final exam.
LET US LICENCE BOARD RIDERS THE SAME WAY !!!!!!!
Illogical!!!
Why’d you put “AND NOT HUNTING” in capitals? Nothing wrong with harvesting your own tucker
I draw the line at using an M15 with night vision goggles and the full camo outfit.
If I have to wear a leg rope, then the terrorists have won.
You don’t have to wear a leg rope. But I don’t think you should expect that you can surf wherever you want, ie crowded point breaks, if you don’t.
I don’t mind a leggie free surf on a beach with no one else out. Actually good fitness / training to swim back in if you lose your board. But fucked if I think I’m going to paddle out where there’s other people in the water without one.
Having grommets, and now spending as much time pushing them into waves as actually surfing myself, has reinforced this. Also reduced my tolerance for SUPPers that ride through crowds of swimmers and groms. Those things take up so much real estate.
Larger Mid Length Boards and Mals MUST BE BANNED.
They are too hard to safely handle by the owner around other people in breaking waves.
WHen loose they have so much weight the Force on impact is massive.
Or provide MAL only surf breaks !!
Jeepers.
Kneeboarders too?
Has FT crawled back in through the cracks?
Don't forget SUP's!
In the past Logical has wanted to ban pretty much everyone in the surf except himself!
Who hasn't?
I was going to say this but thought it went a bit far.
How do you enforce legislatively common sense? Who will be the authoritative enforces? How will it work? Who will pay for it? Will they also enforce drop ins? Can they distinguish snaking? Will I need a permit to surf? Won’t be the clubbies. I’ve yet to seen one approach a dog owner that flaunts a non dog beach area when on patrol. Not saying that’s their job but others would disagree being council employed. Will it
apply to jet skis also? (I hope so).
Does Surfing Australia also encourage the hordes to not take up surfing, help to keep crowds down that assists in the safety of the water for others? Do they bare any responsibility? Surf reserves much?
Fkn people huh
I think its a real attitude issue and not just in the surf there is a lot of poeple who dont give a fuck about the effect their actions may have on other poeple and we seem to be making more of em ...I dont think a lot of em even have the ability to consider it ...Really shit behaviour ..Im no saint and i dont like control or authority or being told what to do but i do consider other poeple ..You dont have the right to fuk up somebody elses day just because you think your entitled or want to impress your face book followers with a photo of your toes hangin over the front of your legropeless log ..So all you tailgators ..driving txt ers ...and non leg rope wearing pudding heads grow the fuk up and consider other poeple. ... your wearing me out ...and stop smashing your fucking rasberry cruiser bottles in the car park
I used to say never surf with a goat boat, then SUP and these days a foil. Plenty of extremely dangerous behaviour by leashed surfers the worst in my opinion being paddling for a wave, realising they’re too deep and letting their board go cannoning into the bowl. Mal riders in particular are guilty of this so I try hard not to surf with mals and certainly never when no leash is being used.
Like other issues around unsafe behaviour in the surf eg pwc use in crowded surf this will bubble along unchecked until a series of tragedies and resultant court cases.
As Lopez said surf to surf another day.
Reckon the first successful court case will be interesting. If a leashless rider is found negligent ‘once’ that will set a strong legal precedent. Only got to be a matter of time.
For all the other stuff (snapped leggies, bailed boards, poor skills), that seems like it’s part of the deal of a ‘dangerous recreational sport’.
A conscious decision to NOT wear a leggie because of a self-assessed competence? Different story.
I've ridden shortboards my whole life but also ride longboards, mid-lengths etc depending on the conditions. I wear a legrope on all of my boards except my log.
This is purely out of practicality not some sense of freedom or aesthetics. When you are noseriding past people on a heavy 9'6 it's actually more dangerous having a legrope tripping you up. Surfing without a leash actually teaches you to be more careful and aware of other surfers.
I've been surfing in lineups full of leashless longboarders for almost 15 years and have never come close to being hit by a loose log or seen anyone else get hit by one. I have however, like many of you I'm sure, been hit by clueless people wearing a leash dropping-in or tossing their boards when they get cleaned up by a 2ft set.
If you are concerned about your kid getting hit by a loose board, educate them on how to be aware and avoid it. It's not hard to spot a 10ft board bouncing towards you in the whitewash and surfboards float so if you can't paddle around it you can always dive underwater to easily avoid injury. If you can't do this you shouldn't be out there.
Legropes were invented for convenience and to stop boards getting dinged on the rocks, not for safety. The problem lies not with legrope but with people who aren't skilled enough to keep themselves and the people around them safe in the lineup, tethered or not.
You’ve made yourself a great example of the problem, judging by your comments:
“I've ridden shortboards my whole life but also ride longboards, mid-lengths etc depending on the conditions I wear a legrope on all of my boards except my log”
OR
“ I've been surfing in lineups full of leashless longboarders for almost 15 years” etc
OR
“ It's not hard to spot a 10ft board bouncing towards you in the whitewash … If you can't do this you shouldn't be out there.”
All of these comments reek of self-infatuation. You’re essentially saying “it’s not my fault that I’m skilled, I shouldn’t have to cater for other people”. While you’re there you may as well say “I’ve been driving around other people for 15 years, so they should see me coming when I’m plugging my Instagram while behind the wheel on the way to surf my log with no leggy”
You don’t have to nose ride past people on your 9’6 if it’s sooo dangerous that you might trip up. I’m sure no one gives a damn what you do on your board as long as it doesn’t hit them in the face.
It’s called making a mistake. And the problem with people who have a inflated self view of their skill level/image/whatever is that they think they don’t make mistakes. That’s something other people do, mistakes are for learners and kooks. Then one day when you do make a mistake, BOOM, you’ve just taken out a 12 year olds front teeth just in time for school photos or done something worse like the horrible story in the comments above. All because you thought you were good enough not to make a mistake and other people should have been able to dodge your board. If only that kid got taught how to dodge a flying longboard then you wouldn’t look like such a flog.
Personally, I’ve had plenty of close calls with people but didn’t get smacked in the head because they did have a leggy on. Who’d have thought.
Your comment reeks of you being clueless about longboarding and your analogy is retarded.
It's more like if a bunch of soft litigious finless surfers told you not to ride boards with sharp fins and a pointy nose because they are a danger to the general population.
"If someone falls off on their pointy hard surfboard and it hurts me we're suing them for negligence! They could never bail their sharp finned board in front of my kid! The government needs to madate finless foamies.."
All of the surfing collisions I've ever witnessed happened within a metre or two of the guy on the wave, who was always wearing a leggy.
Remember, boards float and you can always go underwater.
"boards float and you can always go underwater".
Floating boards do not always follow a smooth trajectory. Sometimes they hit chop and bounce underwater and into the air. They also don't move in a predictable line, though the most common for a longboard is parallel to the whitewater. So that's potentially a ten-foot-wide grader moving through the nearshore zone.
As for going underwater? Kinda hard if your kids are swimming or surfing where it's waist deep. Wading out of the way is also pretty hard work for a child too, not only may they not have the understanding as to anticipate what's about to unfold in the next four or five seconds, in many cases there may be other factors at play (rocky bottom, other people, etc).
https://www.swellnet.com/news/surfpolitik/2013/03/25/longboarders-legrop...
Accident, unexpected event, typically sudden in nature and associated with injury, loss, or harm. Accidents are a common feature of the human experience and result in injury or permanent disability to large numbers of people worldwide every year. Many accidents also involve damage to or loss of property. Accidents can occur anywhere, including in the home, during transportation, in the hospital, on the sports field, or in the workplace. With appropriate safety precautions and awareness of one’s actions and environment, many accidents can be avoided or prevented.
Kaipo get off the Pipe Mate F.F.S.
“ If you are concerned about your kid getting hit by a loose board, educate them on how to be aware and avoid it. It's not hard to spot a 10ft board bouncing towards you in the whitewash and surfboards float so if you can't paddle around it you can always dive underwater to easily avoid injury. If you can't do this you shouldn't be out there.”
You arrogant fucker, you’ve never seen kids splashing around on a shore break right on the sand? So they shouldn’t be “out there” incase some self entitled cock loses their log and it washes all the way in.
I’d love to see you try saying that to the kids father. You must be taking the piss?
The egocentric, selfish and ignorant sentiment of KP is a perfect representation of the problem.
How do you combat attitudes like that?
When you talk of tripping up, do you mean when cross stepping? If so, I respectfully disagree that it’s sufficiently an issue to negate the need to wear a leg rope. Yes it happens that the leggie occasionally gets caught in a toe or something, but tripped up to extent of falling off the wave? It’s about managing it. sure you may miss a section to get 5 or 10 over as you fix the leggie situation mid wave but that’s surfing. No different to having to cut back a little earlier to avoid a paddler, it sucks but you just have to do the right thing to avoid running someone over when you can. The exception would be when you turn round to walk back to the tail without cross stepping but not many longboarders can really do this and you know what, we can go without some things if it’s for the greater good.
I also don’t think it’s fair to put the onus on children to avoid wayward boards? By all means teach kids awareness but the best solution is to not have wayward board in the first place.
Well said
The onus is definitely on the surfer to not lose their board. If you fall you fall onto your board and hold onto it. You avoid taking risks like critical take-offs in front of other people and become more aware of the people in front of you. It's possible to mitigate the risks.
I just think it's important for parents to teach their kids how to stay safe because even with legropes there are going to be stray boards such as when a kook bails their board in front of you when you're duckdiving or when leggies break.
There are noseriding manoeuvres that aren't really possible with a legrope like heelrides and to be honest when I see someone noseriding with a legrope on I think it doesn't really even count.
Mate, ten years ago I wrote Swellnet's first article questioning longboarders and leggies, which was instigated by getting hit by a loose longboard.
I could tell you my credentials but it'd sound like a wank. So in simple terms, I've surfed for forty years, I can handle myself.
Yet I had a longboarder pull into a closeout in front of me and leave the board to its devices. I was on a shallow bank and I tried to dodge it but at the last minute it bit in, changed direction and hit me clean in the ribs.
All this arguing you're doing assumes some perfect scenario. But fuck mate, it's the surf, and it's kinda unpredictable, and its full of people who are also unpredictable, and that leaves a hell of a lot of grey area which is where the shit goes down.
What you're saying is exactly true and entirely reasonable, but somehow I think it's completely lost on old KP.
Have to laugh reading this stuff about surfing "crowded breaks" , "500 people out" bla bla. Consistent pumping 6'-8' offshore past month and more on secret spot reefs, reef points with just a couple of foreign or locals out, or no one, in little respected, surfing wise, pacific ocean facing south east asian country. We ALWAYS wear leggies. Who the hell wants to waste time swimming in after your board when it's pumping like that??? I spew if my leggie breaks and it's going off and have to piss around getting another or don't have a spare, let alone INTENTIONALLY doing it! No leggie I don't go out. Board = check, wax=check, leggie=check, balls=check. Morons. But, as has been said here often enough, these are first world problems. I prefer "3rd world" problems myself :)) So called "3rd world countries" by elitist "1st world" flogs are great, especially if there's consistent pumping surf haha!
"There are noseriding manoeuvres that aren't really possible with a legrope like heelrides and to be honest when I see someone noseriding with a legrope on I think it doesn't really even count."
I've never, ever seen anyone do a heel ride in real life. What other manoeuvres "aren't possible" with a legrope?
I would genuinely like to see someone demonstrate how these manoeuvres can't possibly be done whilst wearing a legrope. After then, we'll decide whether anyone gives a shit.
Also, who's counting?
Basically anything you do that involves turning around on the nose, heel kicks, kick fives. No one's counting but noseriding is fun but not when you have a legrope on. Anyone noseriding with a legrope on is wasting their time.
Like I said I'll wear a legrope on any other board but when it's 2ft and you're trying to have fun on the log a legrope is completely unnecessary and more trouble than it's worth.
Things have changed, Kaipo! It's not 1980 anymore, with fairly empty beaches everywhere. Dick Johnson learnt to swim cos his old man told him he could drive their family car to the pool early each morning before he could barely see over the dash. Things have changed. Roads were emptier then, cars slower and life was fun. now the suburbs are packed, cars are full of idiotic touch-screens and myriad distractions, and if you let your kid drive around the block they will most likely put it on uchoob and tell all their mates...
Leggies MUST be worn on all beaches with more than a few people. It might not be hard for an adult to see a log coming at them but kids are very distracted and teaching them to look will not work. Anyone who hurts someone because they didn't have aleggie on should be sent to do time in a brain injury ward, or do community service the rest of their life for the blind or vision impaired. It is pure selfishness to not wear one these days.
I learnt to drive in a VW that had no brakes at all - on a farm. It sure was exciting stuff to feel the relentless surge of that little paddock-basher as you pushed on the brake pedal and it went to the floor! But can I go out and seek that same feeling on today's roads? No way! Things have changed. We're not in Kansas anymore, mate. If we don't 'police' and control our own desires for freedom from what we think are rules, then the Rulers will make harsher laws for us and enforce them even harder. Who wants that?
There's about as much chance of me losing my board into someone as there is of your leggie breaking and your board hitting someone.
Please just read what you wrote. Then get help
I've already seen my psychologist once this week. She's got me wearing a boogieboard arm leash around the house but says it's too soon to transition to a longboard calf legrope. Made a lot of progress though so your non-existent children should still have a chance of surviving a session at 1ft main beach
At least you have a sense of humour, if nothing else.
Pride cometh before the fall.
What if someone drops in on you? Or another leashless board, or broken leash, hits you? Or someone bails their board in front of you?
So many things out of your control… but keep trolling. It’s funny now
What happens if you leave the sandwich press on and it burns down your shitty brick apartment complex with your landlady inside and now you're a criminal because you just wanted to eat a warm 6 inch?
Well, that sounds like accountability to me?
You got kids KP?
I did but they disappeared when I stopped wearing a leggie
Guess that’s a no then?
Kids don’t have the same level of situational awareness and the same instinctive responses to danger, and often don’t have the physical capability (strength, timing) to get it right. Sometimes they zig when they should say, sometimes they freeze. That’s why there are extra measures for kids safety on the road called school zones. Where you have to drive slower to account for this.
Parents can’t always be right next to their kids when teaching them how to surf - like when you push them into a wave and then they’re paddling back out, or if you’ve got two kids of different skill level you’re usually with the weaker one. Now, I usually choose an area that is smaller and less busy. But every now and again someone rides through from out the back. And I have seen leashless boards bowling through the line up. Plenty of times. The fact that they haven’t hit someone has been a matter of luck. Not judgement and skill of the person who lost their board.
I get that but I still think parents should be teaching their kids how to stay safe in the water because even with legropes there are still going to be stray boards.
Legropes give people a false sense of security, and most collisions happen regardless of whether the surfer is wearing a legrope or not. Beginners throw their boards in front of you when you're duck diving, drop in without looking etc because they know they won't lose their boards. Legropes break and kids need to learn to avoid loose boards.
When I longboard I'm very aware of the people in around me and I don't take unnecessary risks when there are people in front of me. If I fall I fall onto my board and hang onto it. Last thing I want to do is hurt anyone and I never have.
This whole thing just seems like an attack on longboarding and I still think it's comparable to complaining about people riding hard fibreglassed shortboards with pointy noses and sharp fins.
Why don't we just wrap our kids in cotton wool and mandate that everyone rides a boogieboard?
Many dogs are well behaved and would never bite someone, yet they still have pointy teeth and like jumping at things. Dogs must be on a lead unless in designated leash-free areas. Sure the dog can’t jump through a hoop or catch a frisbee with a lead on, but it can still be walked, get some exercise and generally have a good time. If someone walked their dog without a lead, no matter how confident they were that they could control the behaviour, the risk to the general public increases, in part due to variables - another dog off a lead, someone throwing a ball for their kid for example - and should the dog suddenly do something unexpected, no lead equals risk to someone else or the general environment. Lead equals nearly zero risk. And mandating leads for only those people who had confidence in their dog and handling skills is just absurd so everyone has to use one. Get the drift?
As for your earlier comment that noseriding with a leggie doesn’t count, well dammit I better stop noseriding then. Anyhoo, I have to go and clean the house.
- “Kids don’t have the same level of situational awareness…”
- “I get that but I still think parents should be teaching their kids how to stay safe in the water…”
Your response doesn’t quite make sense.
The aforementioned comment is pointing out that kids don’t have the same instinctive responses to danger and therefore need to be given a wide berth. That doesn’t mean parents would ever forgo the responsibility of teaching them how to stay safe.
Water safety is a two edged sword - 1) responsibility for your vessel and 2) awareness and experience of others’ boards and their likely trajectory and how to negotiate that.
Kids need lots of time and patience in the water to understand the latter.
The Pass was once a great learning wave for kids - and still is on the right day.
But it’s become a dangerous place too.
The last time I surfed it (I only surf a soft board there) my son narrowly ducked a longboarder who seemed not to want to avoid him (on a smaller one way down the point far from the premier section)..
My sons epoxy core soft board sustained a huge fin gash down to the epoxy. Glad it wasn’t his head.
I’m not aware if this guy was leashless but he had an arrogant entitled attitude, my son recalled.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours teaching my sons’ water safety. It simply doesn’t matter if someone else doesn’t put safety first.
Which brings us back to the point.
The simple reason people have an instinctive reaction to leggie-less longboarders is it seems an indulgence for the potential price of grievously injuring someone. As others have pointed out it doesn’t matter how skilled you are, accidents happen.
I am assuming you are choosing to surf crowded point surf without a leggie on your log?
I think a little humility would help us all in crowded line ups.
Remember, no one really cares how good you are. Better to have some safe harmless fun and laughs than be a high performance warrior in these situations.
Surely a leg rope above the knee would not compromise your nose riding prowess too much?
I never said I'm good, just good enough to not lose my board when I'm logging a mellow 2ft point break.
If the waves were challenging and there was a risk to others I wouldn't be riding a longboard.
Fair enough mate, but point being, Rasta's incredible....but still lost his board.
Bullshit.
I see some of the best loggers losing their boards at times, it slips out from under their hands because sometimes the white-wash and ocean is unpredictable.
The one time that it happens, is when everyone is put in danger which would have been easily avoided if wearing a leg rope.
What if the crew could redeem Byron from relentless Hipster Leggie backlash...
tbb is being very serious...
Could Byron be holding the Ace Card but refusing to play it...
For all we know Byron Hippies may have started the Leg Rope craze in Oz...
Turns out we can all shower ourselves in our shitty just deserts.
1973 American Bob Newlands (Ex San Juan grom) opened Byron's 3rd Surf Shop "Bare Nature"
All ready for this...
Launched Surf Aids company in Byron Bay to manufacture Oz First Leg Ropes > called "Surf Cords".
1974 First Velcro Strap with brass swivel + Retro fit plug insert marketed by Nat Young
https://surfaids.com.au/
https://www.surfresearch.com.au/agl.html
Byron Hipsters are CEOs @ Oz Leggie HQ...try not to humour them.
I remember the black latex leggies with the rope through the middle. They stretched out and your board would come flying back towards you. Once the latex broke it was rope burn time. Glad those were on the way out in the early 80's.
Wow KP ..thats the most self absorbed reply ive read ..Well done you have highlighted the problem ...
What's the chance we're looking at a sociopath problem rather than a legrope problem?
It’s definitely a growth industry VJ :)
Plus what FR said about everyone thinking that they’re starring in their own movie, there’s a few different things going on.
Sick counter argument bro
Can we please open up a conversations regarding foiling through lineups as well??
Noosa Festival of Surfing kicks off soon. It would be good if they could hold a public forum on the issue.
Very sensible idea. Mandate legropes in competition and send a strong message. Hopefully it filters down.
Good luck with that at the Noosa festival. Previous years when they ran the Duct tape invitational competitors weren't even allowed to ride a board with a leggie plug.
Is this the event you mean? Proper longboarding?
Looks like the Armstrong Creek crew at Winki.
I was thinking more inners at Possos.
Possos is probably worse than that!!
Worst ever has to be the pines in westernport at any height above dead flat
Hi Guy!!
I've had the pleasure of surfing the Pines for over 50 years and it ain't what it used to be. A near perfect setup but it needs a strong long period swell. You can still score a reasonably uncrowded surf if you work around the tides etc and use a little local knowledge.
It is also a great place for kids and learners (and a few of us elderly citizens!) and as a result as soon as there is a sign of any whitewater there will be a line of people paddling out. And when you get a solid swell its not uncommon to see 70 odd people crawling all over each other. The surge in surfings popularity during covid can be clearly seen here.
Leashless surfers are not really a problem here, it is more the appalling lack of etiquette and manners from people, many of whom should know better.
It is shallow and I have head butted the reef on occasion, but the time I was run over by a sideways out of control goat boat is still clear in the memory. Most of the front of the board was delaminated and I still have no idea how I avoided a double frontal lobotomy. I started wearing a helmet after that.
Cheers!
My experience dates back to Pegleg RIP but I mostly avoided the place even when the place wasn’t popular always looking at other highly overrated direction dependent reefs to the east and west
By solid do you mean those less than the fingers on one hand days in the last 4-5 decades when it did actually get solid with whitewater washing through the car park and road. The last time that happened about 8 years back I didn’t see any mals out. Lots of sitzpinkers looking on thou.
Mate, it’s a great soft wave for the kids to learn on, well it should be not the shitshow it is, along with every other nearby reef
Hahhah I wish that looks hilarious
What is it going to take for some to wear a legrope in the surf ? Do they first have to permanently disfigure or give permanent brain damage to someone/kid/elderly person before they see what is possible . Yes it could also happen wearing one but you are definitely lowering the odds by simply doing the right thing by others. If you want the so called freedom of no leggie then go surf the miles of empty coastline with no one out or do you need an audience to perform ?
I.B. whats the legrope / Hipster / Mal rider situation in NZ ..?
if you grab a dangerous loose board (and aren't a 6'5" scary mf...er) do a Laird Hamilton and bite the rail . can be done surreptic'iously (you don't have to eat it just a good dental impression) it's surprisingly easy and clandestine and the dickhead who has lost his (or her) board won't notice till they are home
Make all longboarders ride softboards at any crowded break.
Performance will be the same and nobody gets hurt. Problem solved.
Legropes aren't enough. All surfers have to ride boogieboards from now on because fibreglassed pointy boards are inherently dangerous.
I actually didn't realise people took longboarding so seriously. Thought it was something that people just did for fun when the waves were tiny and there wasn't any actual swell, so thanks for the education.
But hey, if you can't ride a softboard like a longboard, you shouldn't really be out there.
Fuck yeah let's ban fibreglassed surfboards! Great idea.
Why? What's that got to do with not wearing a legrope in crowded surf?
Also, do you surf rocky points like Lennox or Cresso without a leggie? If not why not?
It's interesting observing your aggressive comments. I've got heaps of friends up that way that have ridden longboards all their lives. All of them wear leggies and despise crew like you that don't.
Also like yourself i surf all types of surfcraft, including a mal now and then. But i'll always whack a leash on if there's a crowd. Why? Cos i'm not a selfish prick and also the low level of thrill i'm going to get from performing a 'manouvre' is not something i'm willing to risk the life or health of a kid, or anyone for that matter.
I"m guessing you're just trolling for responses because surely no one could be that stupid...but then...apparently they are (if u read the above article)
It's an analogy because surfing a hard pointy board instead of a foamie presents a similar risk to others as surfing a log with no legrope.
My homebreak and 90% of the waves I surf are rocky point breaks. I often surf the points at Noosa with about 300 other people on leggieless logs and still have never witnessed anyone get injured by a loose board because the people without legropes generally know what they're doing and are very careful when it comes to losing their boards.
I have never and will never injure anyone with my longboard because I am careful and considerate of others when I surf and I don't lose my board.
Nope. Still an irrelevant analogy to the topic. A softboard without a legrope will do less damage than a hardboard.
And this....'I have never and will never injure anyone with my longboard because I am careful and considerate of others when I surf and I don't lose my board.'
HA! You know i used to see a lot of good surfing at The Pass when i used to live up there. Rasta in particular. Guy could ride anything, a fish, a log, a finless....better than anyone. Full stop. Anyway, one day down there, 2 foot day, he, somehow lost his log waaay up the point. It ended up getting pushed all the way in. Anyway, some young chick who was just learning caught a nice little wave and went straight on it. Unbeknownst to her, Rastas board had drifted into her line. She couldn't see it. How could she? It was white, floating in white foam, something you wouldn't and shouldn't be looking for when you take off on a wave. Luckily she rode straight over the top of it, somewhat surprised, but uninjured. Is that the girls fault? Should she not have been out there? No, Rasta should have worn a bloody leggie. He came to collect his board looking very sheepish.
But i'm guessing you're better than Rasta so you'll never fall off.
Anyway, goodluck to you and all the hipsters of Noosa. You're definitely in the right place. It'll be a cold day in hell before you catch me anywhere near the joint.
Your loss. I don't think you'll be missed.
Haha! Definitely. Something we can agree on.
"I have never and will never injure anyone with my longboard because I am careful and considerate of others when I surf and I don't lose my board"
You sound like an absolute nightmare. Bet you were spoilt as a kid,
Nah
How can you be so careful in something as unpredictable as the ocean?
You're a fucking gronk.
It's a longboard, it's not that hard you clueless fucken kook
Oh dear.
The fact that you anecdotally haven't seen an injury from this doesn't mean shit.
It's as serious as grown adults playing on floaty toys in the ocean can be.
Back in the day it was only dangerous when the surf was huge. Less people surfed and there’d generally only be a few of us out on good day so if someone didn’t have a leggy on there was space between everyone and a pretty low risk of being hit by their surfboard.
But now the surf can be so crowded with newbies, wannabes, and those self-entitled pricks on a mission to get every wave, that it can be dangerous when it’s only three feet. Imagine if no one in the surf wore leg ropes. It would be absolute carnage.
A few years ago a hipster surfing without a leg rope fell off his log trying to be the style master, a couple of us got smashed by his surfboard and I got broken ribs and couldn’t surf for about eight weeks. He didn’t give shit arguing we should of gotten out of the way of the loose surfboard. Sometimes that just isn’t possible.
The real problem is that there’s no consequence for the person without a leg rope who lose their surfboard. They don’t get hurt, and it’s difficult to track them down and try to make them accountable (legally).
In the crowded surfs we now deal with I think everyone should wear a leg rope. And for those wankers who argue that you can’t walk on a malibu and do the old skool cool stuff, they’re probably just average wannabes. Just put on a leggy above your knee and get your act together. It’s very do-able.
Like many here I have been surfing a long time-- starting in WW2 in fact. Indeed I actually invented real surfing well before the Hawaiians on their finless coconut trees. Damn germans torpedoed my freighter on one of the frozen supply runs to Murmansk and it was only a smashed up wooden crate with a dangling plank for a fin that saved my life. The shore break was as big as Nazare and I hit on the idea of using a a trailing rope off the crate as a leash around one ankle in case I fell off. (even at the age of 103 I still don't). I was particularly concerned about the possibility of hitting one of the dozens of friendly sea creatures that had suddenly joined me in the wave out of simple curiosity. But at that point I knew that if I was to survive this monster I needed to be free to walk the length of my crate unimpeded. So I quickly ditched the rope and proceeded to be one with liquid insanity. I survived of course and spent 4 weeks on those barren shores by surviving on penguin eggs. The female penguins adored me and offered an endless supply. Several offered to marry me and were heartbroken when the rescue boat finally took me back to a way of life I had almost forgotten.
It was only years later that I travelled to Hawaii and discussed my adventures with Duke, some Australian chappie and some yanks and of course the rest is history. I still miss that jagged penguin coastline and Sonia especially. But as the years have passed I have come to understand the great truism of life in the line up which is:
*Try to be skilled and
* Try not to be unskilled.
My NAB account is 8615 29736533
Pictures or it didn't happen.
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh!!!! That was the sound of satire going over your head.
Erm, not quite...
Ah well, fun while it lasted.
My apologies. I think it was an attempt at subtlety but just came across as bogan. I now see there was an attempt at humour in there....somewhere. Maybe stick to "What Kev and I dun on my holidays" sports journalism.
Surprised you didn't strap sea turtles together to make it back. Been done before.
I did think of it but I was sensitive to cruelty to animals well before caged chickens became a big issue.
You sound like Gonad Man! How’s Frank getting on?
I have no idea whom you are referring to. But if he sounds like me, then I'd like to me him/her.
Given the state of pronouns these days I hesitate to infer what gonad/man/Frank identify as.
shalom.
Ahh Gonad Man. A staple of my youth. A guy who could tuck his (ginormous) testicles up his own arse and fart them out again. Worth giving him a quick airing before the sensitivity readers Rohald Dahl the shit out of everything.
I see it's in film now... excellent.
WSL Longboard Tour allows contestants to compete with or without a legrope.
Yes! Even against one another in same heats & none care or scream.
Seemingly affording any Leashed Surfer an advantage...(Oddly the reverse is true!)
All WSL surfers are to pay International Surfers fee for insurance to cover all Tour Nations !
tbb earlier spoke of Clubbies / Competitive Longboarders having local beach insurance.
So plenty of competitive Longboard surfers have insurance. (No idea what that covers!)
Or even if that forces more surfers to counter insure as a result!
Exceptions...
2020/21 Ranch comps mandate Longboarders to wear leashes.
2022/23 Ranch comp was just as quickly axed...Gee! Wonder why?
Kelly has been accused of dumbing down surfing to suit the WSL Disney narrative!
Men's Tour seems to have none or very few competitors wearing legropes (Not seen any!)
[Disclaimer] tbb never reviewed every single surfer on tour!
Middle ground...
'Appears' some may wear a leggie to cruise thru a heat to preserve energy.
As comp gets competitive the leggie comes off.
Now tbb can't verify this, as it was noticed over several comps / heats.
Anything like WSL medicos or sponsors could flip this eitherway
Also that leashed surfers seldom advance thru comps...all that and more!
Don't count on it as being a thing...just an observation that requires more boring research!
Fact : More likely to see leashes in Heats > Less so towards finals (This much is true!)
Women's Tour has a timid smaller half wearing legropes
Surprisingly very few leashed contestants do well in comps.
Currently just 2 leashed women surfers mop up the rear of top 10.
Seems they'll have to dig deep to hold their ground...(Arrows are pointing down)
Best contestants never wear leashes & are highly skilled surfers & can naturally bodysurf well.
Mostly WSL cams cut the live Vid but occasionally you can also judge their freestyle bodysurfing.
In fact tbb recognized fellow Qldurr & current #1 WSL mens Longboarder is also a champ bodysurfer.
Hawaiians then Yanks then French are least likely to compete in leggies
Brazilians, Japanese & Aussie women are most likely to wear a leash.
As such leashed surfers from these nations struggle in back end of top ten & further down the ladder.
So why is a leash such a drag in WSL Longboard comps!
re: Shortboard surfers never move back foot & wash usually hides any ankle strap.
The legrope is rarely moved or interfering with the surfer or score during surfing of a wave.
Longboard surfers Legwork & footsteps are being highly judged from the take off.
Anything that interferes, trips up or dangles the dance steps is quite rightly marked down.
Longer higher Leg ropes also breach the flow of the wave face that canvases the dance steps.
Almost like a dud wingman that blows yer cool...leggie throws a tantrum...just settle down will ya!
Any viewer of these comps can pretty quickly draw this conclusion.
Any contestant would chew their leg off to rid their flapping luggage strap...quit bugging me man!
Those choosing to wear leggies have a mountain to climb to earn respect as a true surfer of substance.
Dare say one quickly notices that Longboard Leash wearers appear less athletic or able to win a Comp.
Sorry! No other way to phrase what is very noticeable on the longboard tour...Yes! That obvious!
Scrounging shitty waves & cheaply flicking their boards doesn't help there cause.
Almost as if they hate surfing and crappy board...to hell with ocean surrounds & any spectators!
Yes! Real self doubt displays pardoned by trusted leggie partner...like a worn out glove!
They send out a signal of non surfing proficiency as if they can't Bodysurf to shore, then they can't surf.
Pretty sure any longboard judge would zoom in on any weaker points...be like flying a white flag!
One thing tbb never thought to see was that M/W Longboard events attract very large crowds.
This above comment strictly relates to Leg Ropes in Current WSL Longboard events.
Thanx to WSL for supplying enough Comp vids as not all Longboard Comps are filmed.
tbb viewed opening Heats > Top Ten Surfers leggie preference & so forth to present review!
Also enjoyed viewing some good surfing, breaks + Sunny crowds & wild Storms!
PS: Worth considering this valid point of WSL Leashless Tour.
Could be that Long Board tour favours inshore breaks so competitors don't need to swim as far!
They might also consider avoiding rip tides & Steep take offs with pounding middle breaks.
Just putting that out there coz it may also be just that they don't have Jet Ski assist, so choose wisely!
Line Ups would be chosen by offsetting easy paddle lineups (vs) controlled inshore wipe outs.
tbb feels there's a much broader field of Leggie Lineup research going under the radar.
Example : WSL Longboard tour would likely have developed to favour a friendly leash free '70's world!
Know wot tbb is saying...coz this would flow by unnoticed to Judges & competitors to rule everything!
Thereby giving a false impression of a real cool world without any hassles man.
don't start me on out-of-control Clubby boats at the Alley
Trout..i have some Ocean V-Wall V-Reef Engineering for you to look over.
Consideration for others is what the majority is expressing, Its being respectful of any other wave, or water users. By being aware not just of your self but as any opportunity of harm which can be prevented. Surfers of crowded spots should be calling it out as they are. No leggy suits empty surf, times have changed as has the need to consider others when doing what you love. Eventually someone will destroy those loose boards when they have had enough of entitled recklessness. It''s why speed limits where introduced to school zones. Anyone can drive, but most drive to survive, both in regard to themselves and others. The unspoken essential act of respect towards and for others. Crowded zones need more consideration obviously in regard to other water users. Basic respect. toes on the nose too deep heavy pits. Prevention before cure.
The 90's were fun on logs as next to no one was doing it on my coast, maybe 4 of us, and certain breaks were regarded as 'soft' (the real word used cannot be said today) by the shortboarders and so left alone; the old pioneers of the 60's had given it up or converted to thruster shortboards, so they weren't there either. Circumstance meant staying local, and if you wanted shape, you got a longboard. Trips DS meant a single fin semi gun in the juice. North Point was rad. Old Kirra was barrelly. The old timers told me that Separation Point used to be logged in the 60's, so I did this alone, way out, sans leggie. Still no one bothers with that one...
So I did surf the little *empty* local waves without a leggie, and went for swims at times, and repaired dings, cos I'm human. I got thousands of well shaped, small waves with no-one around and kept fit where others gave it in. When I look at the coffee table books it reminds me of Cali in the '30s: what everyone had forgot, created a new frontier, hidden in plain sight. This was part of the appeal, to be honest. It was the $$$ of the ding repairs (rocky shorelines, reefs not idyllic points) that initially persuaded me against going 'free' - but mostly it's concern for others and this developed as I aged, particularly after I taught my niece, and had children of my own. I would not want to hurt anyone, and longboarding lineups are getting more and more crowded.
When I look at the longboard breaks now the crowds are just staggering. The most successful and influential movement in surfing in the last 30 years is not KS's; it's JT's traditional surfing, and it's taken what was a really beautiful pursuit in truly empty conditions that no one else wanted, and changed it into the monster we were trying to escape.
Requiem.
Same on my coast nobody was surfing the B grade or C grade breaks until around the mid 2000s.
Logs and boards with planing area made for super fun uncrowded times.
Then the SUPs, then the Hipsters now the Foils.
I am finding that certain A grade breaks are less crowded these days as the masses are at the Bs and Cs.
Agree, my son prefers shortboards so I switched back and I've found a second wind far away from the maddening crowd, again.
I think if you're doing a move on a surfboard called a "Cross Step" then maybe it's time you gave up surfing, put some talcum powder on the dance floor and learnt to do the Soft Shoe Shuffle.
Noseriding with a legrope is worthless.
I can just see this playing out in the courtroom.
"But dear jury, can you not see: noseriding with a legrope is worthless."
Hahahah I'm not going to stop longboarding because you people think it equates to injuring people. It doesn't. I'll take the negligible risk of legal action over some stupid mandate any day.
You’re talking about your image right? You couldn’t be seen paddling out Noosa with a leg rope, imagine all the cool kids laughing at you.
You might not get invited to their super individual parties to drink craft beer either.
Nah mate nice try but you don't get it.
Righto.. other people don’t get it. You’re pretty shit at reading the room. How’s your support working out here. Plenty of longboarders here even disagreeing with you. Fact is you’re a shit c#nt and you don’t get it.
No, you actually don't get it. At all. You tried to assume what kind of person I am in real life and missed the mark completely. Now you are recycling my insult with no original argument of your own. Love your work mate, keep it coming.
Edit: wrong person whoops how embarrassing in front of "the room"! How will I ever live this down
I don’t care who you think you are or what you’re doing. You are a complete d”:c- ,:-d
I think you might be having a stroke. Might want to get that checked out.
Nah, you know I’m not
Sh”t Stain!
I'm pretty sure you are.
Shit! Thank Optimist’s God you’re online.
Call an ambulance
Nah you're on your own mate. Us leggieless longboarders don't really care for public health or other humans. I'm sure "the room" will look out for you. All the best.
I just watched RobWilliams music clip above and re read your posts and it all makes sense. I can’t but laugh at your every post now because I have that tonal accent in my my mind.
Knowing that you've survived multiple strokes and can still type an incoherent message is all the reassurance I'll need to sleep peacefully tonight.
Nah I get it.
I used to get ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I get isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you
Got run over by a goat boat at Bower once. Didn't cop it too bad fortunately, but seemed mental that someone thought that's a good idea.
"When I look at the longboard breaks now the crowds are just staggering. The most successful and influential movement in surfing in the last 30 years is not KS's; it's JT's traditional surfing, and it's taken what was a really beautiful pursuit in truly empty conditions that no one else wanted, and changed it into the monster we were trying to escape.
Requiem."
V. much agree VJ.
How is this for fought bubble .
Legropes increase the crowd numbers, Ban them at snapper, kirra ,Lennox winki noosa any of the super crowded breaks In no time the line up will have half the numbers and surfers having shorter surfs after a swim or two .
Way less surfers adult learners naturally relegated ,crowds reduced ding fixers elevated socially
And before I get attacked . I wear a legrope and ride a shot board and see overcrowding as the most dangerous element in surfing .
Knowing this fantasy would never happen in crowded line ups just wear a leg rope .
The real answer is to blow up new zealand and dredge the continental shelf so it is 800m off the east coast, we turn the east coast into the worlds premier big wave spot and then the influencers will be too scared to come out.
Take Note Hipsters
(Part 1) Surfboard Leash Mandate for Kooks
Govt or Private Mandates can be for Safety / Security / Restriction / Exclusivity or perceived threat.
Such Safety Devices secure a 'lifeline warranty' mostly to suit Govt approved or registered utility.
As goes for everything in life, life does not mean life, it means everything but that & crew know that!
Several Councils Mandate watercraft ankle leashes to prevent serious injury to property or innocents!
eg: Loose Surfboard in a wave zone
Several Councils Ban watercraft ankle Leashes to prevent endless rise of boardriding fatalities!
eg: Snagged Leggie drownings @ Weirs / Piers / Moorings / Flood Debris / Reefs...number over 100.
Mandated Lifetime Warranty min starts @ 1/2 years mostly to the end life of perceived risk
'Transitional Period' (24 months) is the Official Base Level Terminology!
Warranty Examples : Should demonstrate if a Surf Leash can be mandated..
3mths - 1yr : Surf Leash attached to unregistered unsafe high performance 6mth warranty Surfboard
Kids lost Straps : Tethered to...? Name...? Phone...? Lock...? Key...? (both anything but a Safety Device!)
Sorry! There is no precedent for mandating an unapproved leash to unregistered high risk threat.
Any council or Venue mandating such cares least for Operator or public safety, yet some do.
Standard Mandated Safety Device being...
Safety Device fastened to competent or authorised operator...eg: Helmet / Life Jacket
Mounted Safety device installed in registered apparatus...eg: Belts in Registered RWC Vehicles / Rides
Yes! Alternate High Risk Mandate Examples can be given.
'Restricted' Dog Leash + Restrictions on Chokers etc...
1. Owner's wrist strap (Competent User only)
2. Collar/Harness ( Rego Tag + 50mm wide Nite Glow - Red Yellow Stripes)
3. Controlled 2m Length Leash + Restrictions on Retractable Leads etc
(All are part/whole regulated by recommendations & come with lifetime warranties!)
Noting: Leash is self regulated being an open minefield for litigation. (Freely Snags / Binds / Coils)
Unlike a Surf Leash > Dog leash is 100% accessible / supervised with control as Key!
High Performance Board > Pro legrope
1.Operator's harness/clasp (Full of sand / sunscreen / wax > Zero Warning of anything)
2.Craft Mount (Rail Saver Amputates fingers > Zero Warning)
3.Uncontrolled Risk Leash (Snags/Drowns + Rebounds Heavy Multi Razor + strangles-cuts limbs!)
3-6mth warranty is way too much even if you were crazy to ask for such...(Least safe, safety device!)
Life of Mandated Safety Devices / AS Govt / Venue Safety Mandates
1-3yrs - AS Helmets ( Life of Personal Craft ) Push Bikes / Surf-Skate Boards /
1-3yrs - Leashed Rescue Tubes (1yr Exp Date Oz -End Clasps > US 3yrs for Full Lifeline Chord)
This is a hot topic as Traditional US Rescue Tubes are being redesigned for safer longer timeline.
Idea being to keep traditional fail safe design of Chord running thru whole Float for 100% no faults.
Worth checking as Ultimate Leashed Safety Device to see what Surfboard Leggie needs to rework!
2-5yrs - Helmets (Life of motorbike) Motorbike Helmet
3-5yrs - Life Vest / Paddles / Oars (3yr Service) May offer replacement!
3-7yrs - Air Bags / Seat Belts (3yr service) > (AS Life of a Vehicle = 100,000kms)
{Important} Cheapening the Life of a Safety Device reduces longevity of all attached components.
Mandate was a gift for Automotive Industry to gear down engineering to the life of Seat belt webbing!
Kinda like the $5b Deep Blue computer lasts as long as it's $2 Mouse lead!
Meaning the value of our lives is determined on the notion of servicing a frayed chord every 3 years.
So how could or why would anyone ever offer a Lifetime Warranty?
Lifetime Replacement - Dog Collar / Leashes (10 yrs = Dog's Life)
Lifetime Replacement - Floaties (Not recommended for over 6yr olds)
Ok! So ya all saw that coming...business is business! Oils an't Oils Sol!
Mandating a life warranty on a Safety Device means compromising the safety of what it's attached to.
Mandated Life Time warranty on a Piece of Shit still sounds like a pretty good deal...right! I'll buy that!
Mandated Safety devices also injure users that result in just as many or deaths...(This may surprise!)
Since day 1 > now : US Seat Belts have had over 1,000 recalls + injure 3m / year
US seatbelts save 15,000 lives / year (vs) US Defective seatbelts kill 40,000 / year
https://www.unionlawfirm.com/2019/11/08/seat-belt-failure-how-does-it-ha...
Since day one US Airbags have injured 400 & killed 24.
Oz / NZ were amongst first to mandate seatbelts & also the first to stop making cars to fit them?
Oz was also first to mandate Bicycle Helmets to reduce cyclists & increase injuries. (What next!)
Helmet Laws ramped Angry Mob calls for Cyclist registration...(Now no Cyclist is safe on the road!)
Exactly as one thinks! Mandates reduce once healthy recreational pursuits by around 30-40%
Mandates encourage greater risk taking by false sense of security. (Well documented!)
Highly mandated Pro level Sportsmen increase injury risk from 4-10x to that of recreational users.
Better Wetsuits ramp cases of Surfer's Ear...on it goes! Careful what you wish for!
Highest pile of Broken Boards & Debris have Pro Leash attachments...Crew see & know this.
[Factcheck] Most Surfboard Debris washing ashore is from Leashed Surfers...Crew also see & know this!
Leashed surfers Toxic pile keeps on killing...should that be tagged & traced back to negligent owner!
Many boardriders claim Sharks only chewed on their leggies...meaning Leggies attract Sharks!
Surf Leash Manufacturers / Distributors / Sellers are not liable for any death or injury to anything.
(Part 2) How to Mandate Surf Leashes
(Part 2) How to Mandate Surf Leashes.
SLSA / Ocean Swimmers / Surfing Australia Insurance covers Sand/Ocean 24/7
Covering all Surf Schools [L] + Surf-Swim Clubs Social- Nippers-Patrol-Comps
Notice all these clubs operate outside Patrolled Areas...(All defy safest surfing!)
This naturally works by measured exposure to Ocean Risk!
Ocean Swimmers are mindful of one another by swimming as Group.
Nippers / [L] ride softer more Buoyant surfboards, again in groups with Coaches
Surfcraft slowly progresses to rounded hardboards > Comp Boards
Clubs run rosters each comp & account for each surfer & well supervised.
This Foundation registration + insurance will likely crossover to any Leash Mandate
Mostly because any Leash mandate is likely to be patrolled by Council's paid professionals.
Ask! Would ratepayers fork out for a Leggy mandate! Ask a Silly Question, then surfers will pay!
Impossible to police leggies in the line-up if all dangle legs beneath.
Covid Rangers exampled the size & scope of Beach / Surf monitoring at main beaches.
Lost Surfboards are not a Bio Health Emergency & no Council / SLSA will supply Leash Rangers
However! Surfboards are their own worse enemy by size alone...
Therefore it's logical to expect restricted beach entry points at Sheltered Club queues.
The cost will be brought down by extension of Beach Licensing / Registration Security to others!
eg: Licensed SLSA Beer'n'Parmy / VIP Beach Club goers are automatically covered for Surf Leash fees.
Free round of Pokies & go in the draw for the Jeep! [Sign here 2 Surf] Council approve that sort of Caper!
Mandate precedent is for a Licensed / Responsible Surfer with Approved Leash for respective vessel.
re: Part 1 > Responsibility increases with greater risk > Precautionary warning > Registered Pro Craft
SLSA / Surfing Australia / AS will likely approve Designs & Warning on each 4 components + Use.
(Leash Clasp > Leash > Board Clasp > Craft)
Most Nippers + [L] Boards are soft & will likely Label Board / Leggie with [Not A Safety Device]
This means Ocean craft have an overriding Swim Compliance as priority before use.
In other words...No Grom Swim Session = No Grom surfing Lesson! (Agility assist aside!)
These following Mandated Device designs apply to High Performance renegades.
Waist/leg Clasp : Min 50mm Glow Red/Yellow Stripe + 6mm Block Letters [Supervision/Warning]
Care instructions & Inspections will be in bold type.(Operator of Hazardous Craft > 2m zone)
Waist Leashes may well be mandated for Overweight & those less able!
Leash 2m or appropriate for Board...[Expiry Date Stamp] Due to fact no leggie can't last 2 years!
There is no other 'Safety Device' that Snags, Tangles, Trips & troubles as does a Surf Leash.
Nor one with impossibly low warranty as 3 months...tbb is working with nothing here!
This is why tbb is maxing out companioning safety components to iron out the Spaghetti loops.
Sure : [Warning] Shark Dental Floss / Tooth Remover + (Type in 101 Hazards here...Go for it!)
Board Clasp (Rail Saver) : Bold Type [Warning Risk] on Red/Yellow striped banded Clasp.
At this Clasp [***Craft Rating ] Red+Yellow-Pro Blender, Brown-Log, Pink-Cuddly Soft
tbb was mortified to see the multitude of finger amputations due to rail savers...[Do not Touch]
Craft : Seaworthy > Illegal to sell inferior unsafe Mandated boards > Must be Accessible to rescuer!
tbb explained that Mandated Safety Devices connect to Registered Approved Utility > Not a Weapon!
Seriously...Whole row of Dads would Leash their Gromz to The Mach 5...Boo! Hiss!
Nor should any expect to be rescued shredding a Cheese Grater at Teahupoo...
Gotta welcome the Leash inspectors aboard without slicing them to bits! (Maybe!)
Round / Square Tail / Coined Bull Nose / Rubber or Rounded (2-3mm) smooth Fins (No points)
Leash to run thru craft to nose strap (Not Possible) Consider Front Straps > as Rescue Board design.
Both ends of Boards to be of contrasting Colour.(Note: As in Flipping Loose Board Visuals)
In finishing this section...
Mandated Safety Device for a Utility will usually appoint compliant contactors.
For Approved Design / Manufacture / Inspection / Refurbishing (Very few will qualify for Closed Shop!)
Acting responsibly rules out Walking the Plank & Tandem Surfing on Safe rounded boards.
Also rules out surfing radically on Dangerous boards leading to Leggie snapping > Evil!
Same rules apply to a Seat Belted driver waving an arm out the window...(Police!)
Dangerous Breed = Dangerous Board breaks free of Leash & rips into the crowd...blood & guts about!
Ask : Should that be an equal fine of $44,000 for each owner? Many would argue it should!
That's right! One fault with yer leggie & now on ACA as a sea monster pleading for forgiveness!
Then if so...expect a 5 year ban to go with that...(Surf Leash Mandate relies heavily on Leggie quality!
These are prescribed upgrades needed for 2 year Warranty for Mandating a Surfboard Safety Leash.
tbb never dreamt them up...they are locked in bog standard standards for similar safety devices!
All most definitely worth thinking about & SLSA are on the same page already!
SLSA Leashed shortboards Comp Policy follows a similar harsh line...
SLSA Club Rule : "Shortboard is declared ineligible if deemed to be dangerous to self or others!"
tbb dug deep for this one because it forewarns that any Safety leash be attached to a Safe Surfcraft.
Yes! That's exactly what is implied in this case as SLSA knows of said Shortboard Comp Leashes.
They also know that their Longboard Comps have more rounded designs needing no warning!
Two act as one Safety Vessel or nothing at all...be wise to get up to speed & lock in some designs.
Take that as a warning...possibly advised by Club insurance!
It's a matter of degrees...bodybasher sees no drama with adapting > others would say it's over the top.
[Disclaimer] Parts 1 /2 are not to be read as Anti Leggie rather pro Leggie advice for intended Mandate.
tbb keenly tied the sock > Had Leggie pulled in comps but did free Surf a Mal on lone '70's breaks
Whilst bashin' been hit by leashed surfer's boards over 500x in 15 years at Superbank.
Most of these hits were intentional hate crimes to rob tbb of waves & was even told so by said Bullies!
Lassoed around lead arm & Lynched & hauled behind drop ins then garroted & hog tied by leggies.
Never once recall being hit by someone's loose board > seen equal lost Logs & broken leashed boards.
tbb's Mandated Desert Island Superbank Lineup...(Most injuries > Least injuries)
500 Surfers {Death Trap} > 500 bathers (Bumpy) > 500 Jellies /Ok\ > 500 loose Boards (Yes Please!)
Even promise to treat the Hipster's Stash with Grom Gloves.
Pretty sure most would buy timeshare into the same mined half empty ghostly line up.
Summary : None of this was easy to research on account that this info is buried in PDF.
Safety is seldom on the front page or visible on any invisible back of pack as it frightens customers!
None wish to alarm people & tbb gives fair account of what surfers should expect with Leash Mandate.
Happy to share!
https://www.patagonia.com.au/blogs/films/the-physics-of-noseriding?utm_s...
Heres one for the jury, Patagonia throwing the cat amongst the pigeons
I almost get the no leggie thing (if you have the luxury of an empty lineup) but the ye old bathing costumes may be taking it a bit far with trying to relive the past
This has to be called out as well!
Big time. Foils are dangerous. They are begoming more and more common in crowded line ups. Any given day at crowded greenmount they will be out there dodging the crowd when they could go 200 metres away to cooly and still have the same fun.
hectic style!
Jeezuz, thats mental.
yeah there are a few guys riding foils around here now and i thought sups were dangerous ....been a few close calls
Same in the southwest ,rich cats showing off their fancy foils, taking over the kids and learner breaks, hopping around taking multiple waves in the same sets also is another issue ,greedy cunts (you know who you are)
Someone is going to get hurt or worse soon
Crowds are the problem, surfers are also injured by leg ropes. My solution is to ban leg ropes which will probably reduce the crowd by 50% because they can't swim the distance from out the back. Another 20% will be swimming to shore to collect their board. At present someone comes off their board at take off and their ready to stuff the next wave up straight away.
What about board manufactures making boards without leash plugs. They should be named and shamed.
https://stacklaw.com.au/news/personal-injury/causing-an-avoidable-surfbo...
LMAO, in the future we gonna have to put a license plate on our boards and everyone will have a gopro, like dashcams in cars for the personal liability cases that pop up. Surfcops riding around on jetskis impounding unregistered boards, putting rogue surfers in the paddy boat.
(Part 3) Current Laws on Dangerous Surfcraft in Crowded Line Ups.
Yes! There is current Registration of dangerous Surf craft & similar Foreshore Waters.
Gonna start left of centre...
E-Foils need to be registered + Crab Pots (Boating License affords inspections)
Examples : Name / Address / DOB / Post code ( As with previous Surfboard rego).
tbb felt that Leggie Mandates can't possibly be policed for obvious reasons...
Inspectors can't legally work after hours in High Risk Broken Board Sessions amongst Hazardous Surf.
Crew know that Hazardous Surf would be their bread'n'Butter but Govt / Unions rightly bench them.
Just as Govt must now wait for surf to back down to Collar the Towies...Show is over by then!
No beach patrol! Just Breaky TV & a fleet of Garbos carting mountains of Fibreglass to he Tip.
Karl : "Why aren't all you Expert board-smashing Dole Bludgers at Work Today!"
Ratings:
Seagoing craft must be able to withstand sudden shift to Hazardous Seas, not to place lives at risk.
Suitable leash fastenings for excessive force on craft as rated by Instruction Manual / Advice.
As safe as reasonably practical...(Adapted from Oz cargo Rules of the Sea) Currently Enforceable!
Also harks back to Original Surfer's Rego & Water Toys...gotta be up for the challenge!
UK / France / 3x Oz / US Councils : Ban or wish to ban surfcraft that never injured another surfer!
Councils admitted they can't recall if Hydrofoil Surfboards have ever injured another, apart from riders?
Hydrofoil Surfers say it's unfair, as their craft can't reach the shallows near crowded bathers.
SUP/G.E : "Why not equally separate Sharp Finned Boardriders hacking each other in the lineup!"
Setting a new precedent : So why do Councils ban Foilies....Silly Question?
Councils : "Public Concern!" Most openly admitting opposition & complaints were from boardriders!
In fact many of these surfers were oddly also the elected officials calling for the bans.
The Reasons for Ban were always similar.
1. May present Danger 2. High Speed & Power 3. Sharp Metal Keel 4.Elevated Height of Rider.
We're meant to view Folies as some High Powered Battle Axe thingy from Mad Max! (Can do that!)
Past Surfboard Ban is the same as current SLSA default warning : (Sharp Fins + Pointed Nose & Tail)
Both Councils / SLSA won't hesitate to ditch hard/fast/razor sharp boards from crowds.
swellnet ran a piece on surfers being squeezed outta Bondi.
Noting both Sharp / Hard / Fast Boards & Foilies are equally being squeezed outta crowded beaches.
Outcome of Bans :
3x Not near crowded Surf/swim beaches + Not in Crowded 5km Surf/swim Zone + (PJ : Not in WSR)
UK Clubbie Prez Councilor > Banished Most Feared Foilies to the outcast Kite Surfer's break. (Sorted?)
Fit for purpose Surfer Behaviour : (Applies to Leashed > Unleashed Surfers)
Take reasonable care to prevent injury to others
Dangerous (Fast Sharp Metal fin) Boards must be kept 60m from other surfers.
No leashing Animals while riding! (Must be 100% in control of Craft at all times!)
This flows into Surfing Responsibly to suit conditions (No Dog/Tandem/Air Game in Crowds)
Yes! Many Cyclists/Skaters get arrested for Waving while being towed by Dogs...Cops are on it!
Oddly, it's less so Animal Welfare but everything about being in Control while transiting a utility.
Ok! But why so... tbb can share timeless personal insight from the Flagged Zone...
eg: [Flags] Body Boarders Ok! 1 Bodyboarder Drop knees, now a 2nd follows > 'Get out Now!'
(Not about the Board!) It's 100% about falling at speed from height to injure another.
Also why Lifeguards refuse to let Stand up Softies in the Flags...(Height/Speed Ban!) Got it!
Surfer being in control! Omnipresent throughout...that's the example set here +100% Enforceable!
This being the Only Rule above all...(Much like 100% Grog ban for Swimming!)
Lost Boards : (Also highlights the importance of being 100% in Control)
Hazardous Surf can catapult Snapped / Lost boards over Foreshore Walkways.
Always surf within 50m sight for response time of Surfboard to enable Hailing of incoming danger!
(This is actually a Surf Fishing Rod Law > Must be in control in case a Shark takes the Bait!)
tbb thought this was central to whole debate...(No matter wot...Must be capable at all times in Ocean)
Best example of this is Golf.(We follow the flight of the Ball to direct our Warning...'Fore!') Very Clever!
It also enables boardrider to render immediate first aid in fastest time possible.
Your board also must not impede Surfers / Boaties (re:Blocking High Tide / Crowded easement)
This highlights the importance of being in reach & in control before shit hits the fan!
Notice how it applies equally to all as Leggie can snap & one must be within their element!
Lost Board : (After Hours) This is actually very Serious!
Explanation...tbb come upon endless Tireless Worldwide Searches for Surfers thru the night...Why!
In no time at all...Oz States & Nations all about suffer from this turmoil.
This is increasing as Boardriders venture into new tidal regimes...well outta their depth!
Mostly comes about at end of the day & tbb can verify Lifeguards do a sweep!
Council: [ Surf at own Risk outside Patrol Hours ] Set in Stone...All say Aye!
Noting no mandate can exist in Peak Hour Line-Ups if None are on Patrol (Correct!)
So wotz worse...
Read above! Always stay within sight & never let board impede others!
Can be after Surf Comps/Carnivals > Surfers swap boards & one board is left unloved on Patrolled Beach.
Can also be someone loaned a board which relinquishes control of Board as they leave beach!
After recent spate of Surfcraft drownings (Mostly by Leggie snags!) Lifeguard must call it in.
This could equally be a Beach Towel & A witness.
Seriously! Yes...full on Night Chopper Squad over a beach Towel...crew can check that...very real!
But mostly it's triggered by a lost board.
In no Time the usual Police Alert is posted for Board Owner & Full on High Risk Chopper Night search.
Usually by Midnite the Kook realizes he is Oz most Wanted..."Hey! That's my Board!"...Well Durr!
Many here would Campaign for recompense from dimwit Kook...(Again...Always be in control!)
Marine Reserve Environmental Law
Consider a broken board is left unnoticed then Crabs will quickly swarm & dig into the foam! Party!
Next day yer board is all over the beach & thru the dunes & surf & now in turtles Mouth...Like That!
Prosecution...
Many Surf/board Club Members have insurance to cover mishaps but not misadventure!
Proud owner of yer own personal Marine Reserve Bio Hazard...$1m fine has yer name on it!
World Surf Reserve Code violation...Crown fits the Kook...bill for Damage to Image! (Can do that!)
Past Registered Surfer's Penalties upscaled the impound of Board 1x 7days > 2x 21days > 3x 3months
Current Fines are by way of Penalty Units = 1x $150 > 2x $300 > (Any Above Combo 'also' ramps Fines)
Some Nations don't muck around & will prosecute under the Penal Code!
This review again keeps very close to what path we're on in policing Dangerous Surfboards.
tbb never played it up & kept this lot to the bare bones...
In case yer wondering! Yes! All this is in place being policed now in the surf / Foreshores.
Those rules not being in the lineup were chosen to easily slot the line up...that was the aim.
In other words, Govt can slot them into a WSR just like that without a blink of an eye! Already Law!
As said before...tbb no longer rides a board & would luv to bodybash again one day.
Long been entirely neutral on this matter & best placed to explore all avenues! Happy to share!
So glad only one or two idiots on this page surf a longboard to noseride without a legrope in crowds ..Wow fancy pants turns and 180 degree spins on the nose how tricky and pro level, don't think even Kelly would be able to do a few spinny winny Alex Knost type feminist Pilates nose rides after cross stepping to hang ten and heel whatever tricks.
But why would he? He rips small 1 foot waves on a 26 litre 5'8 to 5'10 shortboard and goes well or a 5'3 twin keel on occasion.
That said after living in a hospital in Perth for about 6 weeks, was allowed out a few times when some ok perth spots lit up(for Perth standards)- maybe 2 foot and made friends with a real charger in hospital who used to ride a stick but now only lids as he reckons his local reefs no where near Perth are just so much better and bigger and better on a bodyboard.He just loves 8 foot plus kegs.
I wasnt really into them at the time that big anymore especially after being in hospital for 6
+ weeks but he rang me up after we were both out of hospital and triggs was a solid 3-4 foot, maybe as big as triggs beach gets but just closeouts. I forgot my legrope (5'11 banks fish)and surfboard wax and had to hunt around the carpark for decent surfboard wax but only found one guy with bodyboard wax.
Rubbed it up on my board, didnt stick as well as i thought it should but paddled out with no leggy..Luckily not many surfers were out mostly bodyboarders pulling into semi slab shoreys but out the back..I dont think i caught one wave properly as everytime i tried to get to my feet the wax was too slippery and feet slid up the board or off the tail..weeks earlier Surfed semi ok on makeable reefs there somewhere but not at closing out trigg with bodyboard wax.
Then my mate who i forgets name got about 40 pits and went in and i didnt get one wave properly.
Mate waited for me and i walked up said in front of some 20 something year old suntanning girls "i dont want to learn how to surf mate, im just walking around with a surfboard to pick up chicks".
One of the girls grabbed her male driver friend and followed us home to his place..She caught up with us and asked her driver to get my mates number..He just laughed and said "no thanks" i thought cool some chicks finally getting some rejection heading their way for once.
Anyway that was the only time rode surfboard without a leash (due to drinking vodka all night before surf) Really stupid of me to forget a leash and wax and wont ever do that again.
Love a good groundy story!
Leg ropes a plenty here
But I read you can't nose ride if you wear one?! ;)
Thanks for sharing that anomaly RockyIsland...Yes! It is an anomaly!
WSL longboarders mostly compete without leggies, only the tail end of Chix Top Ten wear them.
So! What are we seeing here then...
2019 Cat 4 Typhoon Kammuri generated Taiwanese Swell 24th Nov - 6th Dec
2019 WSL Typhoon Open World Longboard Championship 1st Dec - 6th Dec
Taiwanese Beaches would've been closed under Hazardous Seas precaution.
WSL then have options to call it off until safe...as they often do at Pipe / Teahupoo
Noting these Longboarders don't have the luxury of Jetski Paddle assist + (No WSL Pipe MASH unit)
tbb did watch a few heats & the surfers struggled in the wash often hurtling their leashed boards!
Throwing all caution to the wind! Wasn't pretty! Leggies curb any style & grace...
All can see in any of these comps as soon as leggie is on...the unruly surfing behaviour kicks in.
tbb has lost in comps & made to look the fool on Slab wipeouts because of Leggie tugging...
Surfer injury reports this as well & document the rise in higher risk taking injuries with leggies.
Nervous Taiwanese Authorities would've warned WSL to pull the comp!
In this case it was likely a Cat 4 Typhoon kicked in the WSL safety mandate.
Earlier on same 2019 Tour we again unusually saw leggies as norm in a Longboard Comp!
April 2019 Porto, Portugal Light beacon was battered by a Wind storm (Beaches Closed)
5-7th April 2019 WSL Porto Longboard Pro...(Competitors also wore Leggies)
Rest of the 2019 tour very few if any wore leggies as is the norm for WSL Longboard Tour!
It seems during [Hazardous Seas] WSL automatically mandate leashes for all events where practical.
tbb again thanks RockyIsland for sharing that Vid...coz it blows the cover on the High Stakes Game.
WSL are fine for Hipsters to Waltz about until Hazardous Seas Insurance Policy Voids it!
Local Authorities would forbid the Hazardous Events unless WSL fully insures it on foreign Soil.
We have all seen WSL run isolated Health Emergency Lock down Events.
WSL Hazardous Seas Lockdown events ramp Leggies & onshore / access safety compliance.
WSL 'insurance' would insist surfers are fastened down in High Risk National Emergency Events.
Same also as Defence waltzes about then ramp up Safety as they shift up a gear into Battle Missions.
Comes Back to Law of Seaworthiness ... Being ever present to Batten Down in a sudden Storm!
WSL Longboard Wave Pool Event also mandates Leggies ...so as not to rip their Pool Liner!
tbb is saying that every WSL Comp Longboarder has Kaseberga Leggies & Helmets in ELO's Kombi.
When ELO toots his whistle...they gotta get on the lead or walk the plank...(Is nothing Sacred!)
Apart from Hazardous Seas...WSL may have a Surf / Height / Wind rating for mandating leggies.
Here's what we now know!
Between 2019 -2022 there were 5 WSL Mandated Leggie Longboard Tour Comps.
2019 *Portugal > *Tawain > 2020 Ranch > 2021 Ranch > *2022 Peru
*Overhead Surf from Strong Winds / Typhoon (Mandate is either Closed Beaches or Overhead Swell)
15-20 Nov 2022 WSL Punta Rocas, Peru Longboard Pro was also a mandated Leggie Event.
Pretty hard to track this, as comp has no Vid replays but there are random photos showing such.
The Clean but Bumpy powerful Surf warranted a closer look & instincts proved right...
Instincts...meaning...if it looks a bit rough, then longboarders are being leashed!
Also hard to get any Weather / Storm history on this beach but tbb did score a Wind Table.
15-19 Nov 2022 Comp Window Trade Winds were howling over 20km/hr each arvo...(Am was fine!)
15th-28km > 16th -26km > 17th-26km > 18th-26km > 19th- 20km
Swell was reported at 6-8ft (Likely enough to issue Hazardous Surf Warning & Close the beach)
Also consider an "Overhead" wave height rule for WSL Longboard leggie Mandate.
Coz guess what!
The Ranch is also an overhead Wave without the Hazardous Surf Warning! Got it!
We're talking about universal "Over Head Height" triggers warning & review in many sports.
This presents as Head injuries...WSL mandates securing above height Craft and/or Head Protection!
tbb dug deep & can share 2 great images of Nov 2022 WSL Mandatory Leggie Surf Conditions.
Notice how this longboard wave mirrors The Ranch wave Face in shape & height (Not Dangerous!)
Look closer & crew will see the leggie on the longboarder!
https://hardcore.com.br/peru-e-brasil-dividem-podios-no-punta-rocas-open...
This is good, crew have established WSL actually has a Leggie Mandate for 'Hazardous Overhead Surf!
That's a good start as WSL would not likely share sensitive case files...tbb is locking the front door!
Good work crew...thanx for sharing!
Ban all man-buns
Aussie Logger titles not a man bun to be seen....plenty of leggies and associated footwork
Aussie Logger titles not a man bun to be seen....plenty of leggies and associated footwork
Ben Considine - winner of above competition - 3 times Aussie Champ - (open men's logger) spotted wearing a leggie in this vid . Seen around these parts often without one. To be fair though, he rarely falls and will wear one if conditions dictate. Nice young fella - not a hipster try hard.
Wave Height Scale for WSL Employees Occupational Health & Safety.
From BOM / OHAS / State Govt / Health (Official Joint Height Guidelines)
1.5m Surf = Max approved Fall / Wave Height for Under 5 Micro Gromz
2m Surf = Max approved Fall / Wave Height for Under 15 Gromz
2m = Highest permitted accessible structure (Fences) or Surf for Public Bathers...(Warnings)
2m = Highest Worker / Employee's Platform without Harness ( Free surfers Max Height)
...........Mandated Surf Leashes + Helmet Provided............................................................................
2m+ Surf = Mandated OHAS Pro Employee Leash attached to Mobile scaffold Platform.
2.4m = Highest self install from under 2m work height > Greenhouse / Garden Sheds / Patio.
Unleashed Surfer can wade 2m to 2.4m Wave Face but is prohibited from up-scaled higher Take off Zone.
We often see this on big surf days where Lifeguards allow wading but prohibits Line Up to public!
Crew can now see how this is a whole of Govt approach...all the same rules across the board!
2.4m = Self Built Surf Ranch Waves (2m OHAS Mandates harnessing to mobile scaffold platform)
One cannot surf these 2.4m waves without a leash or assist.
2-2.5m = Beach Closed > High Energy > Rough Surf mandates Rider is leashed to mobile platform.
Note : WSL supply Helmets for all & Ocean Level Employed Photographers @ 2.5m (Beach Closed)
OHAS / Health / BOM / Govt all work together as same 2m-2.4m is highest level > (No access)
2m-2.5m + mandates Employed Pro Surfer to leash to mobile Scaffold Platform to do his job!
The higher the Mobile Scaffold Platform the more the Boss nervously insists on Helmets...
That's how this works...as site build rises over 2m the surfer must leash to his mobile scaffold platform.
Mobile Scaffolds are thoroughly inspected each 6 months > Surfer's Platform expires after 6 months!
Weekly Maintenance prior to use & end of use & each new site plug in!
Mobile scaffold platform...that's a new one.
Hipster Spring Boarder'z Mobile Scaffold Platform with Commune Barrel & optional Hot Doggie Skylight.
http://gallery.crmuseum.ca/sites/default/files/imagecache/photograph/imp...
Yep! Unlock wheels, push off the wall & surf / skate yer giant mobile scaffold across the room..Shh!
tbb reckons us tradies would flick & flex our springboard Planks real smooth like...
20ft up flick yer plank & rock it L/R, slide 'em back forth with a Razor sharp Trowel & Hawk full of mud in hand.
re: Tradies planking Telegraph Wires over Rivers!
Hangin' off plank edge of Hi rises for smoko...they win any Boardriding Comps! No Contest!
Crew could chip away at this 2.4m Height Leash Mandate with simple DIY Logger mandate.
Keep accidentally hedging the neighbours fence & lower the Patio Hammock by 100mm each year.
Knock yer Shed down to size...not that much! Crikey! Maybe grow yer crop in a Green Basement.
That should chop down 5% of unleashed Loggerz each year...just go easy on yer Toyota Jump Champ!
PS: Just Checking on the precise Height manual on Wave Pools...So funny!
Ranch / Surf Lakes / Waco / Wave Garden all measure (0.5m -2.4m)
2.3m is not scary enough to mandate Leggies > 2.5m is plain Hazardous...needs helmets.
Borderline for access / Leggies / Helmets (Flex any mandate for any safety product!)
They all know wotz going on here...max self accessible fall height is what 2.4m height is!
Can't ever see any Wave Pool breaching the self accessible max safe 2.4m height barrier!
Just saying if crew want bigger Surf Park Waves then strap on yer helmets!